Electronic devices, including mobile electronic devices, personal electronic devices, handheld electronic devices, and the like typically include a display (e.g., a liquid crystal display). Display covers protect the display of various electronic devices, for example, from scratches, moisture, impact, and the like. Covers including glass and polymeric materials have been developed. Polymer-containing or “plastic” covers can suffer from poor scratch resistance. Glass covers have also been developed, because glass can be transparent and can be resilient to abrasion. However, while glass typically provides enhanced scratch resistance compared to plastic covers, glass can be brittle and susceptible to cracking and failure (e.g., when impacted along an edge). Glass covers also suffer from limitations relating to materials cost and ease of manufacture.
Foldable electronic devices in particular require a cover that is capable of folding with the device. A typical foldable display is flexible and foldable, can be easily carried, and has a large screen. A foldable display can be used in various devices such as portable phones, portable multimedia players (PMP), navigators, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPC), electronic books, electronic newspapers, televisions, or monitors. The display industry generally prefers a 1 to 3 millimeter radius of folding curvature. It would be further advantageous if a foldable cover for use with a foldable display could withstand damage even after 200,000 folding cycles. As such, this requirement generally precludes glass materials. Flexible films having inorganic/organic hybrid coatings have also been explored. However, these can have insufficient hardness, and thus fail to meet all requirements of a foldable cover.
Accordingly, there remains a continuing need in the art for an improved foldable cover for foldable electronic devices that can overcome the above described technical limitations.